South Ayrshire Council’s grand plans for Olympic torch

Dec 16 2011 by Stuart Wilson, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

HARD-UP council chiefs want to spend £50,000 bringing the Olympic torch to Ayrshire.

Skint bosses at County Buildings are planning to splash the cash in a bid to be noticed around the world.

And they want to pump big money into making sure villages like Maidens and Kirkoswald are ready for the big day.

The torch will wind its way through eight South Ayrshire stops after travelling across the Irish sea.

And councillors have this week been asked to approve the lavish spend to make the most of a “unique opportunity”.

A paper goes before the full council today (Thursday) seeking the green light for additional funding to be released.

It states that money is required to cover a range of costs associated with the torch procession.

The proposal insists: “South Ayrshire is the first local authority area in Scotland to host the torch relay so we are guaranteed good coverage worldwide on the lunchtime news on June 8, 2012.

“The justification for spending is the unique opportunity to promote the area, developing tourism opportunities and maximising economic benefit.

“The torch relay is filmed continuously and broadcast throughout the world.

“It is used to foster interest and enthusiasm in the forthcoming Olympics so in most countries gets visual coverage at the main news slots in the day.

“Having the route dressed properly may sustain that coverage further into the day.”

A taskforce of councillors and officials believes £50,000 will be enough to cover the costs, which includes crowd control and community events.

The money would be drawn from the under spend in the council’s children and community budget.

But the sizeable sum has raised eyebrows among those not involved in the recommendation of such a large figure.

One councillor said: “I’d be very interested to know what we under spent on in order to have the money for this.

“These sums of money are sure to require more scrutiny.”

However, time for questions may be limited with the council told it must move quickly to order official Olympics merchandise to dress the route.

A 15 per cent discount is available on branded items from the London Olympic Games Organising Committee (LOGOG), but they must be ordered by the same day as the council meets.